On This Day – Stagger Lee (Yet Again)
Feb 9, 2010 On This Day
On this day in 1959 Lloyd Price reached number one in the States with “Stagger Lee”.
“Stagger Lee” has been recorded many times under many names by many people.
The song has been Bowderized, revised, chewed up and spat out by too many people to mention. Some of whom should have known better and some of whom had no idea of the history of the song and what it was about.
The definitive recordedversion was by the wonderful Mississippi John Hurt in 1928 although the song had been sung ever sinc ethe original crime in 1895.
Just why this particular crime became immortalised is not known (at least to me). The facts of the case m’lud, as the say, are quite simple. Stagger Lee Shelton was pimp and taxi driver in St. Louis. Not just any pimp along with a number of other pimps collectively known as “The Macks” they seemed to love the attention they got. Stagger was friends with Billy Lyons. One night they were drinking and began to talk politics, that developed into an arguement. Billy took Stagger’s hat from his head. Stagger demanded it back, Billy refused and Stagger shot him.
Killed over a hat.
Stagger and Billy became subject of a song that has mutated and survived during the following 100 years and shows no sign of being forgotten 115 years after the crime.
Alternative titles have included; “Stagolee”, “Stackerlee”, “Stack O’Lee”, “Stack-a-Lee”, “Stack Shot Billy”, and other variants that owe a lot to the original like The Clash’s “Wrong ‘Em Boyo”.
Among the artists that have sung and recorded the song are; Mississippi John Hurt, Leadbelly, Sidney Bechet, Beck, Pat Boone, James Brown, Cephas & Wiggins, Neil Diamond, Johnny Dodds, Fats Domino, Dr. John, Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, Woody Guthrie, Bill Haley & His Comets, The Isley Brothers, Taj Mahal, Memphis Slim, Modern Life is War, Wilson Pickett, Professor Longhair, Sam the Sham, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, Ma Rainey, Tom Rush, Ike and Tina Turner, Dave Van Ronk, Doc Watson, George Thorogood, Muddy waters, Billie Holiday, Nick cave
Anyway you get the idea virtually evryone who is someone has recorded a version of the song.
The interesting thing about Lloyd Price’s version? It removed any referrence to the murder and Stagger and Billy just shouted at each other and made up the next day…..
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On This Day – Teen Angel Tops
Feb 8, 2010 On This Day
On this day in 1960 Mark Dinning hit number 1 in the States with his ode to careful parking “Teen Angel”. This is a song about parking a car on a railway crossing and the inherent perils that poses.
Not the first teenage death song there have been many tragic pop songs. Notable songs on the list include the classics; “Endless Sleep” (1958 – Jody Reynolds), “Tell Laura I love Her” (1960 – Ray Peterson), and – of course – “Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro (Although that song is tragic on so many levels…..)
I rather think that song titles should warn you about the content which is why I have a soft spot for the Smith’s “Girlfriend in a Coma”. I also think that if people hit on a winning formula it is sometimes a mistake to follow it slavishly. After all The Shangri-Las had a lot going for them but they are now remembered for just 3 songs. “I Can never Go Home Anymore”, “Give Us Your Blessing”, and the one that started this path of despair, “Leader of the Pack”.
It would seem that “Leader of the Pack” also inspired Jim Steinman to write “Bat Out of Hell”, which you may or may not think is a good thing.
Songs about tradgedies are nothing new but we tend to forget some of the older ones. Billi Holiday’s Strange Fruit remains as powerful and disturbing as the day it was recorded.
On the other hand her version of “Gloomy Sunday” is a classic way of changing the direction of a tragic song. In the original version the narrator commits suicide. In Holiday’s version she wakes up and it has all been a dream…….
Another song that has been tweaked is “Season’s in the Sun”. The song is the narrator’s dieing farewell to his wife, friends and family. The original refers to the wife’s infidelity while the popular English versions refer instead to a young and innocent daughter.
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John Henry Hammond
Jul 10, 2009 Departures
John Hammond died on this day in 1987.
JH was one of those people who were enormously influencial but often overlooked. Often given credit where it was not deserved but denied the credit that was due to him.
John Hammond was a record producer rather than a talent scout. Back in the early ’30s he was writing about the racial divide in the USA and ridiculing it using jazz as the vehicle for this line of reasoning. He was instrumental in promoting Billie Holiday, arranging her first recording debut, she appeared on a Benny Goodman session. Later he also championed the Count Basie orchestra.
For those two instances he deserves to be remembered. However along with promoting blues music and musicians he did one other thing that makes him one of the most important people in popular music development.
He oversaw and championed (but did not produce as many think) “King of the Delta Blues Singers” released in 1961 this was a rerelease of all the recordings made by Robert Johnson. This is possibly one of the 5 most influencial records ever released.
Tags: billie holiday, blues music, deaths, john hammond, On This Day, robert johnson
